I had a near wreck today on a local bike path. I was riding along, slowly, (it was a recovery ride on my old bike, on a drizzly day on a busy path), when the path curved to the right. I saw an older man standing off to the left side of the path, just as it curved. He was looking toward me. So, I slowed slightly & stayed toward the right, when suddenly, I saw that he was holding a retractable leash, which was strung out full length across the path & connected to a dog on the opposite side, just around the bend. (I couldn't see the dog until I started around the curve, because of the plantings along the path...)

I braked, let out a small yelp when I realized that I couldn't stop in time & thought that I was going to be taken down. Fortunately, the dog was short & the leash was low, and my front wheel pushed it down & under the bike. No wreck ensued, but my heart was racing.

I stopped & the man started to yell at me. "You're going too fast! This path is for walking! You shouldn't be riding a bike here, lady!"

I was really surprised to have him yelling at me, but I took a breath, and said what came in to my head in response, which was, "This is a multi-use path."

He yelled again, "You shouldn't be riding a bike here. It's for walking."

I said again "This is a multi-use path. It's for bikes and pedestrians."

He said, again yelling, "It's mainly for walkers & you shouldn't be going any faster than the slowest person."

At this point, I was shaking from the combination of the near wreck & the feeling of being attacked. I couldn't get my wits about me to communicate in any way that would be effective, and so I just got back on my bike & rode away.

Anyway, I mainly wish that I could have thought more clearly in the moment, so that I could have talked to him a little more effectively. I wish that I would have talked to him, not angrily, but just to explain that having the leash strung across the path like that created a hazard for anyone that came by. I wish I would have asked him to think about staying on the same side of the path that his dog is on, so he won't clothesline anyone else in the future. I mean it's pretty unlikely that he was going to say "Oh, you're right! My bad!" But maybe he would think about it in the future when he's out walking his dog.

I was almost in tears when I rode away, from the combination of near wreck & frustration at how I was treated. I wish I could have just had the clarity in the moment to represent myself more effectively.

Oh, well. I'm ok, the bike's ok, the dog's ok, and even the cranky man is ok.